Schiene Zeppelin

BMW put propeller power behind this high-speed locomotive

Feature Article from Hemmings Motor News

What would happen if I put my Zeppelin on the ground?" mused engineer Franz Krukenberg in 1929, although presumably in German. "What if I applied the same streamlining to a train, and more, pushed it with a propeller? Heck, what if I even built it like a Zeppelin, with a lightweight frame and a doped canvas skin?" What would happen was called the Schiene Zeppelin, or Rail Zeppelin. Krukenberg brought a proposal to the overlords at the Reichsbahn (the Reich National Railway), and construction started in the late 1920s.
BMW provided power for the Schiene Zeppelin, and what power it was. For initial tests in 1929, twin 230hp BMW IV six-cylinder engines drove a prototype up to 175 kmh (109 mph) down an &#8232;eight-kilometer stretch of track between Hanover and Burgwedel. By early 1930, a crew from Krukenberg's Flugbahn Gesellschaft was building another Schiene Zeppelin at the DRG (Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft, German Reich Railway Company) Hanover shop. Power was again BMW; this time, in the form of two conjoined BMW IVs. Displacing 46.9 liters--2,862 cubic inches--the V-12 BMW VI employed a magnesium crankcase and made be-tween 580 and 600hp at 1,400 rpm. It didn't drive the pusher propeller directly, but used a compressed-air system to turn either a four- or two-bladed propeller. Both engine and prop were angled up slightly to help keep the four 1,000mm (39.7-inch) wheels on track. The skin, this time, was aluminum.
The Schiene Zeppelin made its public debut on September 25, 1930. By the time they ran out of track, they'd hit the 180 kmh (112 mph) mark, and were picking up steam. Records fell from there: On June 21, 1931, it made a 159-mile trip from Bergedorf to Berlin, over regular track, in 98 minutes. Along the way, it topped out at 143 mph, setting a world record that held into the 1950s.
The Schiene Zeppelin traveled around Germany constantly, but safety concerns associated with running high-speed trains on a 100-year-old track network, with the inadvisability of reversing the train, and with operating a prop in close proximity to passengers kept it out of service, and DRG bought it in 1934.
Life wasn't quite over for the Schiene Zeppelin, though: DRG removed the prop and BMW engine, and converted it to Maybach diesel power. It was ultimately scrapped in 1939, but remains a popular icon for many scale modelers.

This article originally appeared in the December, 2007 issue of Hemmings Motor News.